Sucked In
by Beepbeepme-NOFUCKYOU
Summary: Sollux left everything behind to escape what had happened back then. Now, it's found him again.   AU, image by  hime-yamaneko  AN: dont think dirty of the title, I'll figure out a better one eventually
1. The Beginning of It All

I half walked, half shuffled my way to the computer store. My boss called and asked if I could dis-assemble this harddrive that had some serious damage, and that he needed a clear way to the storage disk and didn't have the nimble fingers to do it himself. Not like it was 10 o'clock on a Friday, in effing Fort Dodge, so it wasn't incredibly dangerous for someone to be strollin' the streets alone or anything. Not at all. I had rolled my eyes and told him I'd be there in ten.

_In short, _I thought in annoyance at being pulled away from my lovely coding session, _I was risking myself to fix some dumb computer that could SO wait for tomorrow._ I shook the thoughts from my rusting think-pan and told myself to shut up. Arguing with myself in my own head was a terrible habit, probably worse since it tends to be pessimistic and an asshole.

I turned the final corner to the shop, when I heard a muffled grunt of pain coming from the alley to my left. It was dark, but a small streetlight illuminated the alley enough for me to see two men roughly shoving another guy, who was most definitely unconscious, into the back of a shitty looking, beat-up black van. After choking on how cliché that was, I quickly hid myself in the shadows.

Not fast enough.

One of the brutes grunted something to the other and looked my direction. The man then started stalking down the alley, and when I was sure he was headed my direction, I bolted out of my hiding place towards the shop as fast as I could. _Just... a bit...farther... _I struggled to think through the stress of exercise my body was unused to, just before pain exploded through my head and the world went dark.

I woke up, and was assaulted by the brightest damn light you have every seen.

"Ow…" I groaned while quickly snapping my eyes shut. My head hurt like hell, and I realized I was in a scary ass white room, surrounded by the brightest spotlights on the whole planet. And my hands were tied. To my ankles. _Oh God this is some fucked up sex-slave oper-_

"Hello, little snoop! Finally awake, I see." The most scarred, torn up man I have ever seen stepped from the other side of the incredibly bright spotlight that had been focused on me. I didn't even see any normal skin. The sterile, white outfit made him look like a demented doctor. _Does that make my the patient? _I wondered.

Meanwhile, while lost in my terrified and slow thoughts, Dr. Freaky had been talking.

"-and I thought for a while you'd been killed! No matter, Lad, just answer my questions truthfully and you won't be harmed." Out of thin air, it seemed, he pulled a bottle with a dropper in it. When the bottle was open, the clear liquid's vile smell premeated the room quickly and made me gag.

"Where are they hiding, Son?" The man carefully measured the dropper and didn't look at me.

"Who?" I tried not to stutter, or break into a lisp I had long before now had conquered at the stress, but this was a scene straight out of my scary movies and it crept me out. Immensely.

"The rest of your disgusting filth, of course." His wide grin showed me all the teeth, sharpened to points and rotten. His tone mocked his words, sickly sweet and kind.

"I don't know what you're-re talking about!" my voice cracked, and I tried to swallowed my fear "I don't even know what I thaw, okay, I don't know what you're talking about, and all I get is that I don't belong her-" my words were cut off by a slap.

"DON'T LIE TO ME YOU NASTY LITTLE CRETIN! Tell me where the Dark Heirs are hiding NOW! I have no time to listen to your obviously well-recited story. GIVE ME THE RINGBEARERS' LOCATION!" he screamed at me. With rough, glove-wearing fingers, he pulled my face upward and positioned the dropper over my eye. "Say something. NOW!" he let a drip of the dropper's contents fall into my left eye.

I _burned. _Hell was nothing compared to this. I jerked out of his grasp and writhed on the floor, struggling against my bindings. I shrieked, bloodcurdlingly. But the scarred man did not flinch.

"TELL ME MAGGOT! NOW, SCUM!" his foot connected with the side of my face, and I felt blood pouring from some wound. I was to busy screaming to hear his next question. Until some invisible power picked me up and threw me against the wall, facing the psychotic physician. His hand was cupped in the air, like the pressure on my throat, and I instinctively knew he was indirectly causing my pain. "Tell me, MY BOY, and will all be over." He grinned again. And what did I do?

Spat right in his face.

He jerked back, revolted, and I felt my knees touch the floor again, although I was still forced upright into the wall.

"Bleh! You disgusting piece of dirt! How DARE you? I will make you PAY!" He punctuated the roar by using whatever psychic mind voodoo held me to the wall to bite deeply into my ribcage, creating perfect twin slashes into my flesh. I whimpered, but my eye burning and my jaw being cracked didn't allow for much screaming. He continued to ask me nonsensical questions about 'Heirs of Darkness" and " Headquarters" each question punctuated by another set of symmetrical slices into my back, legs, and arms. A few times he re-applied the colorless poison to the eye, and I just wish he would figure out I didn't know anything and just killed me already.

A millennium or twenty later, he became bored with his little game, and left. I was released from whatever mind hold he had on me, but I had no power to move. I lay there, and waited to bleed out onto the perfect white floor. Of course, I should only be so lucky.

Two solemn looking women, also in pure white garb, wordlessly and expressionlessly cleaned my cuts. They poured warm water over my body, and a drip of this and that from small pouches in their belts, which scared the crap out of me with my previous experience with unknown substances and white-dressed people. A small mixture was laid over my now sightless left eye, and wrapped with clean dressings. Both upper arms, legs, and my whole torso were also wrapped in tight white bandages, over the shredded remains of my clothing. Setting off to clean the floor, they effortlessly lifted me and placed me on a dry blanket in the corner and given a small cup of water. Then the white dressed nurses left, leaving me to heal in this awful white room that not-so-long-ago was draped in my blood, when all I wanted was to die.

Twice a day, another Expressionless Lady would walk me to a bathroom to use the facilities, then gave me bread. I would be returned to my corner to continue brooding. Of course I couldn't do anything except doze, between sessions. Scar-Face came back and ripped open a few new wounds everyday, asking about the 'Heirs'. I still had no answer, and he promised to return the next day, and I counted the sessions to pass the time.

Seventeen sessions later, Smart Me noticed the small window at the edge of the hall I was led down every day. And I began to think, _if the guard-nurse by the door was gone, could I get out that window? Just gotta wait for the right time…_

And wait I did.


	2. The Visitor

"Sol! Are you going to come down from the roof any time soon, old chum?" my British roommate, Jake, shouted at me. I was perched on the edge of our crappy little main department store-like apartment building looking out at the stars again. Thinking. I had done a lot of think in the four years I had been here. About my family. My parents, my twin sisters, my friends, that life. Both eyes, no scars. And even after all this time, I still hadn't run out of things to think about.

"Whelp, goodnight guysth. I love you all. I misth you." I said to the stars. I hoped that maybe, by some twist of fate, my loved ones would look up at the stars and here me. My dad believed that with all his heart, and I hoped with all of mine he had been right. I lifted myself up, and cleared my throat a bit, hoping to swallow the accursed lisp that had become even harder to control when my jaw, and I quote Jake, "mended the wonky way". I turned to face the door to go back to my room and return to whatever coding I left up on my screen last. Until the sight of the figure standing on the same rooftop as me registered in my rusted think pan.

I stopped and looked. Dark figures had been the subject of every single scary dream since that night. The terrifying image of the Doctor came to my mind, and I wonder if it was even possible to jump down into Jake's window into our shitty top floor apartment.

" I wouldn't do that." the figure warned lightly in a voice that wasn't the Doc's. That didn't mean I was going to loosen up any, but that one less nightmare scenario for me to worry about.

"Wouldn't do what, fuckface?" I tried to keep my cool, but my manic side was throwing a fit. I pretended I wasn't freaking out, looking directly at the stranger and with a cocky smirk.

"Try running. Or jumping. Right now. I have the upper hand out here. Trust me. I just came to let you know one of our favorite cretins has resurfaced, and your old name has been floating around, Captor." Wait, what? I didn't know this guy. I didn't think I knew him. He came a bit closer, the tiniest streak of light from a far-of street lamp illuminating him.

Oh _shit._

_You're running for the window you know is at the end of the hallway despite the unexplainable cloud of darkness that swamped the place about twenty minutes ago. Your guards had disappeared, probably to attend to whatever is making all that racket outside. The timing was perfect, and you weren't chained to anything, just set in front of those godawful lights. You ran past those glaring spotlights and found a door on the other side of them. Your grin almost split your face and you opened the unlocked door. The destination, that window. Nothing could stop you, you were free._

_But as you ran as fast as your unhealed injuries would let you, you pass a door. And through that door there is a shape lying on the floor, in a similar set-up to your own,painful light set up around it. However, for this guy it seems to be incredibly painful. He's is twitching slightly and his eyes are squeezed shut, but he's definitely alive. Half-limping into the room, you find a single plug in one outlet this side of the light. The Spotlights powered down. His squished closed eased almost immediately, and he look warily over._

"_Hey, uh, dude, now ith the perfect ethcape time, tho come on." You can't really think of anything to say to a half-dead guy on the floor. He coughed a bit before attempting to stand up. You then realize that this guy's even worse off than you, and you rush over to his side to let him lean on you._

"_You got a plan, kid?" He asks you, getting better seemingly second by second._

"_Uh…crawl out the window?" you say uncertainly, and then exit the white-walled prison and go into the hallway, angled for the window. You push the guy back a little. _

_Taking off the tattered, blood-covered remains of your left tennis shoe, you tell the other prisoner to back up, and smash the shoe through the window. You make quick work of the glass, only minorly cutting up your hands and hoist yourself out of the basement window onto the sweet earth outside. You turn back to the window the second you're out, and help the guy wiggle out of the barely sufficient window space. It's a little past dusk, the sun's rays still somewhat visible to the west of us. You don't even get to breathe before you are both running, running through the forest and far away from that hell and all the commotion going on there._

_When you can no longer hear it, you both sit down, breathing hard and you're just marveling at how freakin lucky you are to be alive._

"_What's your name, kid?" the strange man asks between pants._

"_Doeth it matter anymore? I'm not totally thure I even remember after all thith." You think about those stupid crime movies your dad loved. They could know who you were. They could track you back to your family, and they'd die. The thought almost sends you off into a rage. You were about to lose EVERYTHI-_

"_Smart idea, kid. You can't go back to your life. Listen," he said, cut off your mind-babbling," I'm not one to forget a favor, and you just saved my life, and I consider that a pretty damn big favor. Go as far west as you can. I'll find you, once I get this mess…straightened out." You know you weren't imagining this. His cheeks had filled out in the night air, his brown eyes regaining a sparkle._

"_Where are you going?" he's starts standing up, which he does much, much better this time._

"_I'm going to take care of something. Just go. I will find you. The Bull forgets no promises." And the last you see of him is a winking eyes before he fade like the dwindling rays of light._

I blinked. I remembered this guy.

"Howdy there, Bull, you haven't changed a bit," I smirked again," Took thome time to rethearch me I thee."

His dark eyes are glittering. "Oh, no, it just radiates off of you. Anyway, I came to warn you about our old friend…and give you this" He holds out his fist and I lay my palm flat out for whatever he's got. Whatever he drops into my outstretched fingers is heavy and cold.

"Keep it you on at all times. Trust me, it's the best protection for you right now. My people will be in touch." and like all those years ago he simply melted into the darkness, his eyes twinkling as he faded into the black.

"Great to thee you too." I muttered. I opened my hand, turning my attention away from the strange person who just disappeared. I had long accepted the idea that I would never be able to explain anything even remotely related to this shit. I gazed down into my palm, wondering what the Bull thought would protect me from the wrath of a psychotic telepathic doctor.

AN: :33 thank you to all the wondfurful people who are reading this, and those subscribed to the story. I'm sorry if this sucks, my proofreader is being an unbearable fuckass at the moment, and no one read this ovur fur me. Dont hesitate to tell me what you think or if you see anything you think needs changing! ^3^

-Beepbeepme-NOFUCKYOU


	3. Caught

" A thtupid _ring?" _I stared down into my hand disbelieving. How was this going to protect me? But I had believed in weirder things before, so I slipped the ring on. I admired it as I walked down the flight of stairs, more light illuminating the fine piece of jewelry. The black metal was twisted into two capital "I"s around a incredibly yellow stone, and it sat perfectly on my finger, like it was made for me. I almost ran right into Jake while walking in an awed daze to our room.

"Wow Sol, where'd you get THAT? Its quite fanciful, if I do say so myself." I smirked at his accent after shaking the fuzz from my head. Strange moment. I let my arm gently slip around his shoulders before replying.

"An old friend of mine thtopped by and gave it to me." he leaned in closer. Our strange relationship, having started out a "friends with benefits" type of thing, had sort of melted into us being boyfriends. Although both of us classified it as "bisexual." He had been very supportive of me, somehow knowing I had needed help, but never pressing for details. He claimed he was happy with the promise to "give a fellow a warning before the damned Mafia rains down upon us, or till you're right and healed and up for talking about it again."

However, I wished I had not ever met the wonderful jungle man, because I had now put him in the firing path of unexplainable danger.

"Look, Jake…Um, could you pothibly be able to thcedule a vithit to Jane? Like, for tomorrow?" _don't ask why, don't ask wh-_

"Whatever for, mate? I love going to see my dear sister, but why should we go now?" He looked at me quizzically before the almost audible click hit him. "Oh, wait. It has something to do with your 'friend', doesn't it?"

I sighed, and looked away from that piercing green gaze. "Yeah, it doeth."

"So we need to get away for a bit? Hm, it's a mite last minute, but Jane's incredibly efficient, I'm sure she'll having everything ready plus a cake on the table when we arrive."

Glad I was not looking him in the eyes, I half whispered "Not we…" I cleared my throat, pulled some courage out of my ass and repeated a little louder "Not we, Jake. Jutht you. It'th a….perthonal deal and I want to be around for a bit."

He scrutinized me for a moment, and I could tell what was coming.

"I can bloody well take care of myself, thank you very much. I'll not be leaving you here to face your hellhounds on your own."

Sighing at his stubbornness, I knew I would have to ease him into the idea. "If you're here, I be too worried about keeping you thafe than anything. Do thith for me. Pleathe?"

His eyes, once unbreakable fortresses of 'I'll get my way' were cracking. He sighed at me this time, muttering about 'damn cripple' before pulling his cellphone out of his pocket and pushing some buttons. He lifts the

"Now listen here, Sollux. I'll let you have this round, and I'll go visit my sister. But I'll only be gone a week. No way am I missing your birthday." He winked before turning back to his phone with an overly warm greeting to his sister.

My birthday. Shit. June 1st, the first day back into the real world, that I allowed Jake to celebrate as my date of birth. My real birthday I preferred to stay buried with my old name.

If the guy from the roof had known where to find me, then it was safe to say Doctor Pain did or could find out too. So, I decided to go and stay with an old friend.

I waved to Jake's plane, smiling until it was gone. Then I dialed a number I had almost forgotten I'd had.

Dirk Strider was the ironic ninja. Silent mechanical genius. Flawless forger. It was under those last circumstances that I met Mr. Strider, Jake's 'chum' who gave me the identity I had now. I also learned plenty of defensive moves from the completely crazy hermit. Now I was about encroach on him again.

"Talk." the stoic voice said into the microphone.

"Hey, Dirk. You got room on your couch for an old cuthtomer?" I said as deadpan as possible. It was like a game, Who Can Be More Emotionless?

"…Yup. Just come in. You're on your own for food." _Click._

He was still as pleasant as always. However, he did deal in some seriously paranormal stuff, courtesy of his sister, and was secure even from the creepies that hide in your closet. I couldn't think of a better place.

Although someplace not swimming in smuppets might have been good. They were everywhere, every nook and cranny of the apartment. Except for the couch, which was almost smuppet-free. I was pretty lucky Dirk cared enough to clear it for me at all. I sighed and sat down, knowing it would be unlikely that I would be seeing anything of my host unless he got the urge to strife, so I just settled in and ordered a pizza.

The next three days just sorta went like this. I got up, found that the rest of the pizza had been eaten, so I figured it was a fair trade, his couch for my pizza. I went to a little café nearby and drank shitty coffee while using their Wi-Fi, then went back bearing pizza and orange soda, Dirk's drink of choice.

But as I was walking to pick up the pizza on that third day, I felt something. Something that flickered in the corner of my eyes. However, when I turned around, there was nothing there. I just continued walking, trying to convince myself it was nothing, my heart pounding madly.

"You've been fucking impossible to find, _Sollux Captor"_ A voice said in my ear a some kind of blade slipped around throat and pressed into the skin.

* * *

><p>(<strong>AN: I hate myself and my procrastination some days. I finally got this written on vacation and typed it up this morning. Thanks endlessly to all the nice people who read and review and I hope I can really start digging into the plot soon!) - bN<strong>


	4. Yes, That Is Considered Kidnapping

"Thit!" I snapped my head back as hard as I possibly could, the back of my skull colliding with my attacker's face painfully. I heard his outraged cry, and darted off, turning down a alley in hopes of losing him. I turned to look behind me and saw no pursuit, but when I looked back to the end of the alley a heavily-breathing figure with two curved, glinting somethings in either hand made me immediately stop.

Shit.

"Come back here, assfuck!" He snarled, and I ran back towards the end of the alley I had just come from, desperate to get away. However, he was suddenly (and impossibly) in front of me again, and that blade was right by my neck with frightening pressure. In the faint light from a window above I could see his face, twisted into a snarl, and for a fleeting moment I swore it was ashen and that him teeth were pointed.

"Ok, you dumbass, you OBVIOUSLY couldn't just do what the damn Bull said and wait for my, no, of course, that would make everything FAR too easy for me and fuck it all if THAT should happen. I'm not gonna fucking kill you, so stop staring at me like I'm a demon. Do you have the ring?" The blade never moved, but his gaze moved to either of my hand before resting a glare on me.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" Good, avoid 's' words, and play stupid. Not that it should have been possible, but the fierce man -boy, he looked even younger than me- grew even more annoyed than he already was. A fast hand darted towards my right, lifting my arm by the sleeve into the meager lighting.

"Fuck this, I can't fucking take anymore stupidity today. No cant just give me a fucking straight answer, act like you're that fucking thick…" His angry words faded into mumbles and he captures my other hand. A small smirk toys with his lips when he spotted the ring.

"Well, it looks like God can not be a dick sometimes. Now, I'm going to lead you in a particular direction, and you are going to follow or you are going to very swiftly be unacquainted with that melon sitting between your shoulders. Capiche?" The blade at my neck wiggled a little, as if proving his point. I nod once in hope of keeping my dignity.

Unfortunately, the street are bare, no cars or people on the sidewalks. It was about 11 when I'd left the café place, and nighttime in this neighborhood could be dangerous. The angry boy, who was almost a head shorter than me, lead our odd procession to a black car with shaded windows. He opened the back seat and looked at me.

"Get in."

I moved with the encouragement from the sickle, but stopped when I saw the handcuffs on the back of the passenger seat.

"Keep moving and don't give me a reason to use them." He said from behind me, and the second I sat down in the seat that fast little fucker had me chained to the seat.

"Hey! I got in didn't I?" I protested and pulled at the binding. He was smirking at me again.

"Yeah, you did, but I can't take chances with such _precious cargo_." That guy was mocking me, and I was about to retort when he slammed the door in my face. He was enjoy this WAY too much.

I also realized that I had been kidnapped, _again,_ and there was nothing I could do about it. Jake would get worried when he didn't reply, the alarm would be raised, but of course my family probably had done the same thing and I know how well that worked. I was so screwed.

He got in the car and pulled away from the curb, and I abruptly chose and new plan of action.

"Do you kidnap people often, or am I jutht the lucky one?" I may not be able to escape, but I could easily piss this guy off and maybe he'd just kill me before the torture or whatever awaited me.

"Do I look like I enjoy this? Do you think I find this fun?" the annoyance returned to his tone.

"Actually, yeah, you did. You grinned while handcuffing a stranger to a chair. And yeth, that ith incredibly fucked up no matter how you put it."

"Fuck you. No I do not kidnap people for shits and giggles, and fuck your sick take on a pair of handcuffs. Obviously they are to keep you from jumping out of the damn car."

"You watch way too many movieth. In real life that would really hurts and motht likely break a few ribth. And you did not deny liking to tie people to chairth, and you're calling _me _sick."

"I DID NOT ADMIT IT YOU SICK FUCK! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU PATHETIC MISTAKE OF THE UNIVERSE!" He slammed on the breaks unexpectedly, and I flew forward face-first into the back of the seat. Ow.

"Wow. Now I'm thcared. The toyth were cute, but knowing I'm in the car with a pervert…" I trailed off and enjoyed the rising fury in my captor's eyes. The red light we had been stopped at chose then to turn green, and he punched it. I hit my seat with more force than before. I couldn't help but laugh, which only seemed to enrage him more.

"SHUT. UP. I DON'T WANT TO HERE ANOTHER POORLY CONSTRUCTED TAUNT FROM YOUR ONE AND A HALF BRAIN CELLS THE DURATION OF THE JOURNEY OR I WILL TIE YOU TO THE ROOF OF THE VEHICLE!" I swore his eyes were going pop right out of his head, and another sharp corner made me question the decision to piss him off while he's driving.

"Aw, but I how will I get to watch you get all riled up if I cant talk and annoy you?" This was almost too easy.

"Did I not just tell you to shut your - WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING YOU NOOKINGLICKING BULDGESLUT!" We swerved violently and I heard tires screeching as I hit the driver's side door, pulling roughly on my binds.

"WILL YOU STOP FUCKING TALKING SO I CAN WATCH THE OTHER **IDIOTS** ON THE ROAD AND NOT KILL US BOTH? CURVE YOUR YAMMERING SKULLCAVE FUCKNUTS!" Finally I relented, falling into silence and messing with my now raw wrist. _We better get where we're going, rather quickly, before he kills us, _I thought as I was jerked forward again.

‡ῷ†ῷ‡Ҫҩԇ§ᶓԇῥᶓἦϯἶδ‡ῷ†ῷ‡

After a while, the jerking lessened as well as the kidnapper's yelling. The windows were tinted, too darkly for me to look out the window, so I did what I had learned to do in the hours left alone in the White Room of Pain. I faded into my subconscious letting numbing memories dance before my eyelids. A picnic, chasing my sisters across the grass, a small tree frog in my father's hands, a soft humming that I was sure was my mother's, and-

"Are you still fucking alive back there? You seemed intent on making me break a vein 20 minutes ago, and now your all….quiet." Strange brown, almost red eyes peered at me from the rearview mirror.

"And you care why? You kidnapped me, and thinthe trying to get you to kill me didn't work, I figured jutht going to my death would be eathier. Not like it'th my firtht time being the helpleth victim." I really just wanted to go back to my daydream, where none of this was real and I was a carefree nine year old again.

"It's not kidnap, numbnuts, it's protection. For some unfathomable reason, the Bull wants you safe, and since every time he says 'jump' 500 hundred other people ask 'how high?' you get a royal fucking guard whether you want it or not." I heard no scorn in his voice, just the ever-present hostility. However, He had overlooked a particular detail. I shook my hand as far as the restraints would allow.

"And thith is a friendly way of thaying 'don't jump out of the car while the manic with a bad cathe of road rage ith at the wheel?'"

"I TOLD you, it's to stop your lisping ass from trying to leave the car before we get to Derse Manor. I distinctly remember telling you that, you ungrateful douchecake." Anger rose in his tone again.

"Well, I would have no dethire to throw mythelf from a moving vehicle if thomeone had jutht explained the fuck ith going on inthtead of being herded into a thtrange car at knifepoint!" I could stop myself from raising my voice, simply because this guy was trying to justify kidnap, and I wished I was just knocked out and crammed into the truck instead of having to talk to my abductor.

"Well what the hell was I supposed to say? "Hi, I'm Karkat Vantas and I'm going to take you to our top secret laboratory so you can help stop the apocalypse?' Yeah, that would have worked so well." He turned back to glare at me, only to jerk the steering wheel and almost knock the car into a ditch. After some shouting and cussing, we were back to our glaring match, through the much safer method of the car mirror.

"How about 'No, I'm not one of Doctor Crackpot'th cronieth here to torture and dithmember you for ethcaping?' Would have been a great thtart!" He startled me with a loud burst of laughter before smirking and looking at me again.

"Doctor _what?_ I've heard some crude names for Prositians before, but that is definitely a new one." We turned onto small gravel road, from what I could tell from out the front window. It was amazing how he could see through these windows at all.

"Well, nameth are not exactly the top of thingth you athk when you're being cut into like the Thankthgiving turkey, _Karkat._" I smirk briefly at my own small victory.

"Wait how do-" He smacked himself in the forehead "-because I just told you, fucktard. Well, at least I don't need to go through any awkward introductions now. Finally." The car pulled to a stop. Karkat got out of the vehicle into the blinding sunlight. The boy opened my door and unlocked the cuffs with a small silver key. He pulled back, and I eagerly stepped out, and looked to where he was staring. My jaw dropped.

"Welcome," my abductor said with a smirk, "To Derse Manor."

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><p><strong>Ok, putting the AN here so people can choose to skip it over.<strong>

**First, I'm sort of dedicating this chapter to Soul-Whisperer, mostly because when I saw I was in someone's favorite authors I fell out of my chair. Then I turned out 3/4 of this chapter. Also to Goldenpeltthewarrior, who's stories I've enjoyed, who actually read this. (yay warriors!)**

**And of course, to all the wonderful people who read and review and critique because it helps me improve, and I wanna do the best I can. ^3^ EVERY WORD IS APRECIATED!**

_It's here that I promise to finish this story, because I've run across a few really great tales that the authors abandon, and although I understand to an extent, it breaks my heart that I'll never get to know what happened, And I decided I will never do that to anyone. Homestucker's honor._

_-bN_


	5. Making New Friends   Or Not

Manor was an understatement. This was a medieval _castle_. Large stone towers framed the scene straight out of a videogame, bricked walls covered in creeping plants, intricate carving in the several stone pillars that stood in front of the giant wooden doors with large lion head knockers. The fence was endless oldtime stones and wrought iron, encasing the overgrown forest that was the lawn.

"Roll your tongue back into your head dumbass." Karkat sounded smug as he waltzed towards the doors like he owned the place which, for all I knew, he did. The doors shockingly didn't creak when he opened them. I ran over to catch up.

However, a few steps in the equally exquisite hallway, a large flying object bowled into the man in front, knocking him off balance and almost sending him to the floor.

"Karkitty! You're back!" A small girl, drowning in an oversized olive-colored coat and a blue cat-eared hat, suckered herself onto the stunned returnee.

"Wha- I - Nep- WHY THE HELL ARE YOU CLIMBING ON ME?" the girl, who can't have been much older than fourteen, nuzzled his cheek quickly before untangling herself from Karkat.

"Sorry, but I missed you! I've been lonely!" she looked over at me and blushed lightly. "So you're the person Karkitty had to go surrrrching for!" she rolled the 'r', making it seem almost like a purr, adding to her aura of catness.

Shrugging was my answer and she tilted her head a bit.

"What's your name, sturrrranger?"

"Tholluxth Captor. And you, Mith Kitten?" I raised an eyebrow, half-smiling at the endearing midget who obviously annoyed my abductor.

"Nepeta Leijon, at your surrrrvice!" Nepeta bowed low, and bounced right back up to attention. I chuckled.

"Well, I'm so glad we're all introduced and fucking comfy and cozy now. Since you seem to fucking like him so damn much, why don't you show 'Tholluxth' to his room so I can fucking have five minutes of peace from this stupid shit and get food." Karkat stalked down a hallway to our right, off the side of the grand staircase in the middle of the entryway.

"Don't take anything to heart, Sollux. He's really nice, once you get past the yelling and swearing." The cat girl turn toward Karkat's retreating figure . "Gamzee's making pie, just to warn you Karkitty!" a string of obscenities floated down from the hall. She giggled.

"I'm not tho thure about that, but whatever you thay, kitten." I couldn't really help it. She was just so… kitten-y.

"I'll show you your room. I've had it ready since the Bull said you'd be coming." She flounced up the steps of the grand staircase.

The place was just as huge inside as its exterior suggested. Something that looked like battle scenes were painted directly on the walls of the hallway we walked down, and everything looked like original woodwork.

"Do, uh, many other people live here?" I asked my hyper guide.

" Not really. Only during supurrrr important meetings. In between we house odd travelers. The heads live here, most times."

"Wait, important meetingth for _what? _The heads of _what?_ Why do I alwayth get dragged into thethe thingth and then nobody tellth me anything?" Admittedly, I didn't need to sond so aggravated, but I was pretty clueless about what was going on and nobody was telling me why. Nepeta visibly flinched, and I felt kind of bad for yelling at her for something she probably didn't understand.

"Um, well, I can't say anything, beclaws…. Do you have the ring?" The abrupt question was a bit startling. I had almost forgotten I was wearing the thing.

"Yeah," I showed her my hand, "What'th the big deal with thith thing? Karkat athked about it too when we, er, met."

She held out a blue-nailed hand to me, showing that nestled on her middle finger was a delicate-looking black ring. It's dark-green stone was set in what looked like a roaring lion's mouths, the teeth holding it in place.

"These rings are furry important. You'll see. I don't know what I can say, so I'll just say that." The girl stopped suddenly in front of a plain door, of which she turned the knob to reveal a simplistic honey-colored room. "Here we are!"

"Door to the left is a bathroom, If you'd like to refurrresh yourself. You aren't required to stay here, but no one's really around during the day, and its easy to get lost. It's almost sunrise, and if you were driving with Karkitty I'm going to guess you didn't sleep on the drive." I shot a look at her, and she smiled. "I've ridden with him befur. Scared 3 lives out of me!" We shared a laugh, and she walked back towards the door.

"Let me know if there something you need. I'm a few doors back." The door shut quietly and I let the hlaf-smile fall from my face. My eyes swept the room curtly, seeing a set of drawers, a bed, and a wardrobe. I walked to the door Nepeta pointed out before, and a surprisingly modern bathroom was behind it. I quickly browsed the contents of the drawers, found a reasonable outfit that looked like it would roughly fit, and took advantage of the hot water. Letting it stream, the water gently flowed over me, relaxing, and for a few seconds I felt like things were back to normal. I was back in the apartment, Jake in the kitchenette burning something, a loud action movie turned up enough that people on the street could hear it. Dirk popping to check up on his 'bro' on the rare occasion. The store below that Jake ran, Guns and Gadgets, in which Dirk had once been the gadget part and I had taken over when he found a darker calling of puppet porn and forgery.

Home. Strange how the odd situation with Jake had become a home just as much as the one I had with my parents and my little sisters, Gemina and June. Just their names made me think of even farther gone days.

"_Tag! Gotcha ya big brother! Come get me!" Gem's tinkling laughter filled the backyard. June tried hiding right up against his back, and squealed when her older sibling scooped her up in his arms._

"_Oh, no, my arms are suddenly too weak to hold the weight! I'm going to lose my grip! You're slipping, uh oh…" He playfully loosened his grip on the frantic 7 year old._

"_No, brother, don't drop her!" Gemina yelled and ran over to her sibling's aid._

"_Gem! You gotta catch me! Don't let me hit the ground! Help!" June giggled, her brother now tickling her as she swung through the air._

"_Ah, I'm getting weak, I'm going to fall, right…here!" The eldest fell backwards softly, right on the still-grounded twin, causing squeaks of outrage from both of them._

"_Attack!" June declared, and the boy was swarmed over by giggly little girls, disappearing from view and laughing all the while…._

It was so long ago, it almost didn't feel like my memory anymore. Then those pesky wondering flooded my brain again. Had they looked for me? Did they declare me dead? Were they moved beyond my disappearance, accepting that they would never see me again? …Did they still miss me? I wouldn't ever get to know, would I? The haunting argument I still had with myself came on full force. I had to leave, so the Doctor wouldn't get to them, wouldn't hurt them too. Mother wouldn't have been able to handle it, neither of the girls would have stood a chance, Dad would have been driven insane at the girls' pain. I kept trying to convince my heart that I'd done the right thing. It disagreed.

It came to my attention that the water was going cold, so I turn it off and stepped out of the shower, dressed quickly in the all-black garments, fitted a bit loosely but comfortably. My body and mind had gone beyond their limits. I collapsed on the soft comforter thinking, as I drifted off to undoubtedly painful memory-dreams, that the room even smelled faintly of honey, and of the bee farm, and of a long lost home.

‡ῷ†ῷ‡Ҫҩԇ§ᶓԇῥᶓἦϯἶδ‡ῷ†ῷ‡

"Honk."

The noise was so small, it couldn't have been an actual noise.

"Honk."

Ok, that one had to have been real.

_"HONK!"_

I sat straight up in the bed, franticly searching for the source of the sound. But there didn't seem to be anyone in the room.

"Ok, not funny. Feel free to come out now!" I called out. Childishly, my mind began to wonder if someone - or something - was under the bed, and I couldn't resist the urge to crawl over to the edge, swing my head down and move the flowery bed skirt over so I could see -

"HOLY _THIT!" _a crazy-eyed figured scrambled from under the bed frame, laughing while I all but launched myself the opposite direction and, subsequently, right off the bed.

"Damn, motherfucker, I didn't mean to up and frighten you! Ya'lright?" The boogieman stood up, shaking shoulder-length black locks and screaming _drug addict_.

"Name's Gamzee bro." he walked around the bed and held out a hand " I ain't gonna eat you or nothin', I swear." Gamzee chuckled and I let him help me up off the floor.

"Do you wake all new guyth like that? Or am I a 'thpecial cathe'?" I felt a pang of recollection at the corner of my mind. Gamzee…

"The pie dude!" I blurted, then became furiously embarrassed at how incredibly stupid that sounded. The tall stoner actually grinned, and looked flattered.

"Aw, man, I'm honored. Everybody all up and discussing my love of pie. You gotta try some. Oh, yeah," his brow furrowed, and he looked at me again, "I was supposed to be takin you down for breakfast. Nepeta told me to come and get you." Gamzee walked out the door, and I took that as an invitation to follow him to the promise of food. I paid more attention to the wall murals this time, as Gamzee walked slower than Nepeta did and I could take in more of the detail this time. The scenes were indeed of battles, and bloody ones at that. But some things looked off, like how some of the white soldiers glowed and not all of the dark soldiers looked human, but more like horrible creatures from nightmares. Asending the wide staircaxse, I noticed the grand hallway had a large window for a ceiling, through which I could see the fading sunlight, and a few emerging stars.

"Um, Gamthee, ithn't it a little late for breakfatht?" I asked my laid-back guide while we went down the hallway Karkat had gone down the day before.

"Heh, to normal people that would be kinda strange, wouldn't it?" he said more to himself. Louder, he drawled "Not for us, brother. We're all nocturnal up in this bitch. 'Cept Kanaya, but nobody really know what's up with her sleepin' habits." I had no idea who Kanaya was, but this escaped his attention as we turned into a bright little kitchen with a large island directly in the center of the room.

"Hello again Sollux! Did you sleep at all? I know it can be scary in new places, cuz' I didn't sleep fur like a week after I furst got here." The bouncy blue cat-hatted girl spun around on the stool she was perched on and smiled widely at me. Karkat was nowhere to be seen, and Gamzee plopped down beside a well-built sweaty guy who seemed to be chugging milk from a big metal cup. Another girl was on the inside of the counter, standing at the stove by a pan of biscuits.

"Morning to you too, kitten. Thomehow I'm not thurprithed that you're a morning perthon." I pulled up a stool one down from Gamzee, trying my best not to seem awkward.

"Might I inquire as to the new addition to our household, Nepeta?" The muscled guy asked in a surprisingly quiet tone.

"Currtainly, Equius. This is Sollux Captor, the purrrrson the Bull mentioned before? Karkitty brought him back yestfurday. Sollux, this is my bestest furiend in the whole world, Equius Zahhak, and that's Feferi Peixes, cooking back there." Nepeta giggled a little as Feferi hissed at a splatter of bacon grease.

"Somebody new? How _exciting! _Oh for glub's sake!" The pretty girl's attention was claimed by the food again. I breifly wondered if everyone had some dorky talking quirk before Equius offered me a hand. I took it , then nearly had my hand crushed in his vice-like grip.

"Exquisite to meet you, Mr. Captor. Now, if you will excuse me, I have been invited to train with Vantas this morning after my meal, and I would believe it rude to be late. Good day." With that, the formal man stood up and exited the kitchen, and Nepeta sighed.

"Him and Karkitty are always training. They never do anything else anymore! Hey Feferi, are you gonna come to the garden with me?"

"After I finish up in here I will. Ah, seaweed! It's official, I cannot do anyfin but baked goods." With a few more shrieks from the stove, the sad little catgirl realized Feferi was a lost cause and turned to look at me.

"Purhaps you would spend the day with me? Efurrybody is either busy or gone right now and won't get here til later, and I don't have anyone to play with me!" It may have been my imagination, but it seemed like her eyes grew larger, and her hopeful little face was too much.

"Thure, why not." Nepeta emitted squeal of delight was ear-popping, and she hugged me gratefully. Her enthusiasm was capped when Feferi walked back over to the counter triumphantly carrying a plate of crunchy-looking bacon.

"First, help me eat this. I'm shore not gonna be able to finish it alone."

The 'morning' was spent in the moonlit garden out back, following the flickers in my bad eye that everyone in this house was emitting ( I had a feeling I should worry about that) to chase Nepeta through the trees. She reminded me so much of my sisters, I couldn't really help the affection I developed for the little fur ball. The moment we left the castle-like house, she started referring to herself in third person. Saying things like "The hungry lioness circles the unsuspecting prey, preparing to pounce on the one-eyed beast and devour it!" and tagging me before speeding off again. After a while of this, Nepeta found me thanks to a growling in my stomach and decided it was lunchtime. Feferi had barely finished cleaning up the disaster breakfast had caused when we walked in.

Tuna sandwiches were made, and Equius and Gamzee joined us. Karkat briefly popped in, grumbled about 'nasty-ass catfood' before leaving the kitchen with three sandwiches in tow. I helped the girls to clean up, they then drug me to a uncharacteristically modern room- as compared to the rest of the house - with a large entertainment stand hosting an old box TV. Nepeta jumped on the couch and curled up into a ball, and Feferi pulled a beanbag out of nowhere and plopped down. I opted for one of three recliners that were placed around the room.

"Nep, can we watch The Snorks again? I love that one!" The brunette pleaded with the girl, who was flipping through channels.

"Sure! If it's on...there! Found it!" A cartoon that was basically a ripoff of the Smurfs underwater capture the girls' attention. I found myself glancing at Feferinoticing that she was at least sixteen or seventeen, long curling brown hair and huge ocean-blue eyes behind thick-rimmed pink eyewear, and very, very pretty. I was startled out of my reverie by a haunting bell sound.

Nepeta, previously dozing at the end of the couch, popped up and darted to the door and the sound of the chilling chime. I followed her, with Peixes right behind, stopping at the opening of the hall and looked on when she opened the door. Her happy squeaks indicated that she knew the callers.

"Terezi! Vriska! You're back!" The catgirl threw herself through the doorway at one of the newcomers, beyond my sightline. A shriek or two later, a rather amused looking teen girl with an eye patch walked through the door, preceding another girl with red glasses who was wrapped in Nepeta awkwardly waddled inside. Feferi too ran over, greeting them like overexcited children.

"Fantastic to see you too, Leijon" the redglassed one said, hugging the catgirl affectionately.

"Who's he?" The longhaired girl with the eye patch asked of Feferi, looking directly at me, blatantly staring at my eye. They untangled, and Nepeta looked down the hall towards me.

"That's Sollux. He's the one-"

"Waaaaaaaait, he's _that_ Sollux? The Bull's Sollux? Well, that's not what I expected of the Bull oh-so-grand savior,." I found rather suddenly that I didn't like that girl.

"Oo, that's the weird thing I smell. Mustardy, with a tinge of... appleberry blast. Yum." Red Glasses turned towards me and literally sniffed. Like a dog. I gave her an obvious What the hell? look. "Sollux, right? Terezi Pyrope, resident blind girl at your service. My less-then-courteous friend is Vriska Serket, who really needs to _learn manners"_ the tone she talked in suggested this was not the first tactless thing Vriska had said.

"Well, at least _I'm _not sniffing the guests!" It suddenly became the blame game, and the animal-themed girls giggled and snuck back towards me, walking by and going back into the TV room.

"They are so ridiculous sometimes. I don't know why they're friends, They seem to positively hate each other!" Feferi shook her head and turned the television off before facing Nepeta.

"I'm gonna start dinner, beclaws efurryone will be arriving soon and they are going to be absolutely rrravenous! And Kanaya's not here, so that leaves the meal up to us!" Catgirl reached for her friend, but Feferi backed away, shaking her head.

"Oh, nu-uh. You guys are on your own. I had my cooking time today, and we know how that turned out. Nope, nada, not gonna happen. You have fun with that, though."

After Nepeta begging me for a few minutes not to leave her alone at this, I helped some with supper preparations, but my cooking abilities were more or less non-existent. Dinner was random people just walking in and scooping food on a plate, although Feferi said that the next room over was an incredibly fancy dining room that they had big banquets in when everyone was around. People were arriving every few minutes, and it occured to me that perhaps this was the haul arriving for one of the meetings Nepeta mentioned earlier .

I wasn't paying much attention to anything, and the next couple hours sort of blurred on by. Finally, after helping Nepeta wash up, I said my goodnights and walked back to the honey-colored room to sleep. I hadn't run around this much since my self defense lessons from Dirk. But something stopped me on my way through the strange hallway I remembered lead to my room.

"And wwho the _hell _are _you?" _I tried to just walk by the pompus asshole who was going the opposite direction down the hall.

"Hey! I'm talkin' to you, Red-Eye. Answwer me!" The Scottish accent was off putting, but I continued down the hall, trying to pretend he wasn't there. This guy was clearly one of those hipsters , blue and black striped pants, dorky, giant-rimmed glasses sitting on his pointy nose, and a single purple streak through his bangs right on top of his head.

I reached him, and did my best to avoid his, but I saw a small flash -both eyes- and I turned towards him. He looked annoyed, and triumphant as I glared at him and his pompous attitude.

"Noww, wwho the hell are you, newwby?"

"I am tired and going to bed. Goodbye." I turned to leave, but Hipster was suddenly in front of me.

"Howw dare you! Do you evven knoww wwho I am?" he demanded, outraged at some terrible indignation.

"Nope, can't thay that I care either. Move, fish face." I dove around his and started walking again, when a push from behind sent me tumbling forward. I righted myself and turned back towards the offender. He was inspecting his nails, looking oblivious to me but fighting back a smug smirk. I lost it.

My first swing caught him squarely in the jaw, throwing him back a bit and catching him off guard. He returned with a blow of his own, which I easily ducked and let him impale himself on my waiting elbow. He released a small oof before connecting a fist with the back of my head. I pulled one of his feet out from under him and he caught my hair on the way down, dragging me to the floor with him. Propped myself up on an arm in preparation for another swing when I heard a high pitched "Stop!"

In sync we looked down the hall to see Feferi sprinting over to our tangle. Her expression was a twist between fury and worry. I flinched.

"Fef!" The guy beneath me gasped, and I looked at his before standing up and backing off him.

"And what do you two think you're doing? Eridan, don't even, I know you probably started it. Sollux! You are both mature boys, so what in glub's name caused you to fight?" Feferi helped Eridan off the floor and proceeded to make us both feel about two inches tall. I said the first thing that came to mind, and apparently the first thing that occered to the hipster-asshole as well.

"He started it!" he added a bit of flourish when he pointed at me, and I shot another glare at him. Feferi just sighed.

"And you are how old? Both of you say you're sorry and go to your rooms!" Stopping her foot, we both muttered a half-assed sorry and inched away to our rooms like scolded children, not before exchanging venomous glares that clearly said "This is not over."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: okokokokokokokok. This is all fillery. Nothing really happened. But I threw in some nepeta friendship cuz I want him to be protective and older-brotherish. bN funfact-I originally planned for this to be gender!stuck, but I can't write that for sh*t. Not that I'm doing all too well with the anyway. CX anyhow I have a title covery thing that is originally drawn by ( hime-yamaneko(DOT)deviantart(DOT)com**

**art/Sollux-267338912). less than three to her!**

**That about sums everything up, so...Reviews are unbelievable motivators, so click and such. **

**-bN**


	6. The Arguement that Made No Sense

I woke to an incredible migraine and a pounding on the door. Answering it did nothing to help, nor did being glared at by a violent loudmouth waiting impatiantly outside the door.

'Is it too fucking much to ask of someone to hurry their ass up when you knock on the fucking door five thousand times? I apologize for being so fucking inconsiderate!" Now that we were standing face to face, it was almost comical how much shorter than me Karkat was.

"Thleep. It's this wonderful thing people need more than thix hourth of to function properly. You tend to move thlower when angry midgetth wake you up." The fury radiated off him at 'midget' and I let slip a small smirk. He fumed.

"Okay you mentally challenged fuckpaster, just fucking get dressed and make yourself look less like a fucking pile of douche. The Bull requests your presence, like now." He looked at me expectantly.

"The all-powerful Bull requethtth my prethenthe? Well, I thuppothe that callth for thpecial measureth." I turned on my heel and walked back towards the bed, "I'm going back to bed."

"_Don't even think about it_, Lispy! Get your ass moving, as in RIGHT FUCKING NOW!" Stubborn hands wrapped themselves around my arm, and he all but swung me into the bathroom, shut the door, the re-opened it to lob something at me before shutting it again.

"Fucking prick..." I muttered under my breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT, CAPTOR? I'm sorry, I COULDN"T FUCKING HEAR YOU!" Humor crept into his voice.

"Thith floor mat will make a wonderful pillow! Tho nithe of you to leave me in thuch a comfy room Karkitty!" I threw the foolish Nepetaism in there just to further rile him, locked the door from the inside and proceeded to change.

"DO NOT SLEEP ON THE FLOOR CAPTOR! Fuck!" His struggle with the door ended when I mercifully unlocked it, once again opening a door to a rather pissed off Karkat. He didn't find it quite as funny as I did, I guess. Just to piss him off, I smiled at him innocently.

"What'th wrong little guy? The little old door beat the incredible Karkat? Could of just athked for help there dude." His glare was razing.

"Walk. Out. The door." He said slowly, as if he were talking to a child. I complied, turned around, and waited for him.

"Well? Where are we going, O Great One?" I looked at him, an eyebrow cocked in question. He looked confused for a split second, before promptly stomping out the door.

"Your presence has been requested. Why the hell the Bull wants your sorry ass is beyond my thinking capabilities, but nontheless I have to be the fucking middle man." I followed him as he ranted and walked fast.

"He'th here? Why the hell does he wanna thee me?"

"Did you miss the part where I said I have no fucking clue? Let me repeat myself a hundred goddamn times because you're to stupid to get it the first fucking time!" We walked in silence down the staircase, down to the two diverging hallways, and went right. I was led past several doors, which I sneaked glimpses of. Inside, many people I had never seen before sat around various tables, some looking over papers scattered about, others in heated discussion. It looked like a military office. We reached the end of the hallway, a final door, just barely cracked open.

Karkat walked up to the door, shot me a quick look, and pushed open the door. I was a high ceiling room, lined with wooden bleachers surrounding a center table. This table was surrounded by twelve tall-backed wooden chairs, animals and creatures masterfully carved into them. Several of the chairs were occupied.

There was and arguement going on, and I surprised myself by knowing the participants. The two girls from the other day, Vriska and Terezi.

"We can't afford to be hasty, Serket. If we move too fast they'll catch our scent." Terezi cackled slightly, speaking to the chair next to her.

"Yes, but if we do _nothing,_ we lose more and more man power. We have to strike back!" Vriska fired back insistently. She stood up and faced her opposer.

"If we launch an attack now, with so little a force, we'll lose men there and make no impact on them. It's too risky!" the blind girl insisted back, standing up as well but facing just a bit too much to the right to be head on with Vriska.

"Ladies, please. This disorder will bring little result." Another girl, tall and elegant and pale, stood from her chair as well to walk between them.

"Stay out of this Fussyfangs! You know you want to side with her!" Vriska snarled, even more viscously to this person than to Terezi. I flinched.

"My dear, please. while I do agree with Terezi on the state of our forces, and the wisdom of striking now, I believe we must do something immediately. However, I don't think an attack is the thing we must focus on, but our own. Are there any other ideas?" She did a sweep of the room, eyes looking over all her companions. A voice spoke.

"Perhaps a move to the catacombs?" Another woman, calmly sitting on the other side of the table, became the focus of attention. She continued. "If we discreetly gather our respective people into the ancient tunneling, we can safewall the weaker will several guards, then call as many warriors to arms as possible, and bring them here. From that, I believe we can egt together a more strategic plan than 'shoot in the dark and hope we get lucky.'" A look filled with venom was shot at Vriska. "We can house many in the catacombs. There will have to be some preparation, but if each of us can contact the Hopefuls and get them to gather their areas and make supply runs, we'll each go and move the masses. It is a desperate move, but are we not truly at the end of our rope?" There was no reply. The head of the table, none other than the Bull himself, stood. Terezi and Vriska sat, and the graceful woman quickly returned to her chair. Nobody breathed.

"It is an incredibly desperate move, indeed. But Miss Medigo is correct. We either attack now with what small power we have" a glance at Vriska again "or we can confuse the enemy by their target simply disappearing. I believe a vote is in order. For the catacombs?" Several 'for's rang out, and Vriska pounded the table with her fist.

"So we choose to run. Of course. Are we truly this weak? Have we lost all backbone?" She was furious. Medigo looked towards her.

"No, we are choosing to save lives, rather than pride. I apologize for insulting your willingness to let others die for you, but there are people out there, that have lives and families who come before your selfishness." her voice rose slightly with each word, and everyone at the table flinched a bit.

"It is settled. Contact your Hopefuls. Adjourned." He stood, followed by everyone else. Vriska stalked out of the room, preceding the pale woman who chased her. Most of the group contented itself with starting smaller conversations. I saw Nepeta sitting on the shoulders of a large man, Feferi and Gamzee talking to that pompous asshole Eridan, and the blind girl was talking to Medigo. The Bull was coming straight for us.

"So fantastic to see you again Sollux. I trust your stay has been pleasant so far?" In the bright light of the room and the ease of which he stood, he was much less terrifying to be around. But he still had a powerful presence, an air of authority.

"It'th been great, and I'd love to be here on my own termth." Karkat jumped, and looked at me. I looked back. "What?"

"You don't just talk to _the Bull _that way. What the hell is wrong with you? Do you-" The Bull in question was laughing, and placed a hand on the angry man's shoulder.

"At ease, my friend. Sollux does not know our customs, nor does he see me as anything other than a man. An old man." he laughed again.

Karkat blushed, suddenly finding the floor to be the most important thing in the room. "I apologize sir. I should not have expected so much from an outsider."

The older man pat the shoulder under his hand again. "Believe me, having met under the circumstances we did, I would not expect him to think a whole lot of me. Oh, and Vantas, make sure you make contact with your own Hopefuls."

"Yes, sir." He mumbled, and walked right out the door behind him. The Bull and I looked at each other.

"That'th the motht rethpectful I've theen him act. What kind of show are you running here, anyway? I get abducted and thwept away to thome creepy manor in the middle of who knowth where and get treated like a guetht everyone wath waiting for." I didn't mean to let it all out like that, but it had been a weird week for me.

"Yes, well, I was told you were not at the building where we last met, yes? The poor lad was rather terrified. He does not take well to imperfection, and failure is absolutely not an option. When I told him to do what he had to do, he took me for my word, I suppose. And then you were here as everyone expected you to be, no complications that they could tell, and they just did what they originally planned. By the way, you do still have the ring, right?" He looked to my hands. I waved the one with the ring on it around in his face.

"Yeth, I have the damn ring. Why doeth everyone care tho freakin much about the ring? What doeth it have to do with anything?" He gave me the most serious look I've ever seen.

"It has to do with everything."

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><p>Ok, im a bad person for not updating faster, and not being able to update for the next week and a half. I don't much like traveling, but it seems to be happening alot lately. Jeez. Well, if you're reading this or have read anything of mine, a bigbigbig hug to you and a dozen cookies. :)<p>

-bN


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